Tevet 15

In 1963, Israel's first desalinating water facility opened in Eilat. Israel is inherently poor in water bodies -- about 90% of the land area is dryland, and 60% of the country is covered by the Negev desert. Desalination is a process of producing water from salty and/or contaminated water. Today, Israel's national water company, Mekorot, operates 29 desalination plants, mainly in the south of the country.